Proposals being accepted from groups interested in Larson Recreation Center operation

MOSES LAKE — Applications are being accepted from nonprofits interested in operating the Larson Recreation Center in Moses Lake. Proposals are being accepted through Sept. 1.  

Doug Coutts, director of parks, recreation and cultural services, emphasized the request is the first step in an extensive process. 

“We’re issuing a request for proposals,” Coutts said. “This is to find if there are qualified entities.”  

City officials have had conversations with the Boys and Girls Club of the Columbia Basin and the YMCA, but those are preliminary only, he said.  

Talking to Moses Lake City Council members June 23, Coutts said the point of the RFQ process is to determine if there’s anyone out there who is capable of running the rec center. 

“What we’re asking for right now is, ‘Do you have the bandwidth and the capability of running a facility like this?’ If we get an application from (an organization) that has never run a fitness center before and never done anything like this, we’re to take that as a different level of qualification from somebody that’s done a facility like this,” Coutts said.  

After the application period ends, city officials will evaluate the applicants and conduct interviews, a process that’s expected to continue through the end of September. A selection would be announced in October, with the goal of having a contract in place by February 2027. 

“(To) begin developing the transition plan in March 2027 is our goal,” Coutts said.  

Contracting with a nonprofit to operate the rec center is one of the possibilities that came out of a “financial sustainability plan” approved by the council in May. Council members spent the spring looking for ways to reduce spending in the city’s general fund, which was in the red in 2025. The deficit is projected to be smaller in 2026, but there is still a deficit.  

The city has enough money in its reserves to cover the deficit but council members didn’t want to keep incurring deficit spending in the general fund. It pays for most city services, including police and fire services and operations such as parks and the rec center. 

Council members used a framework suggested by City Manager Rob Karlinsey, which ranks city services in three categories. They are core services, which the city is required to provide; basic services, which cities don’t have to provide but usually do; and enhanced services, which in some cities are provided by other entities.  

The rec center, the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center and overall recreation programs were identified as enhanced services. 

If the city contracted with an outside organization, that organization would be responsible for routine maintenance, utilities and keeping the building clean, Coutts told council members June 23. Things like capital improvements would be separate conversations, he said.  

“We currently own the building, and we have to own the building while we have the debt service on it. For the next 15 years, we would transfer as much as possible (of the) responsibility to them. If they wanted to make improvements to the building, they would be responsible for that,” Coutts said. “If they want to do something with it, whoever this agency is, a lot of what (we’re) talking about would be negotiated once we get to the agreement portion of this.”  

The rec center opened in 2023, and Coutts said city officials don’t think there will be much need for capital spending for a long time to come. 

Karlinsey said city officials want to keep both the building and programs in operation. 

“It’s not just about taking over the whole building, but the ability to take over as many of the recreation programs and classes that we are already providing as possible. The idea behind this is, we’re not proposing to take things away from the community. We’re proposing to keep providing those things, but in a different way and through another entity,” Karlinsey said. 

Mayor Dustin Swartz said he was concerned about the wide range of programs offered by the city might limit the applicant pool.  

“It’s going to be difficult to find one entity,” Coutts said. “I don’t know that we can find a combination of two entities that do everything that we do.”  

City officials are willing to look at contracts with multiple organizations, he said. 

    Hockey players at the Larson Ice Rink. Who would operate the ice rink is part of the discussion about transferring operation of the Larson Recreation Center from the city to an outside nonprofit entity.